Sony says personal data and perhaps credit card information were stolen from tens of millions of users of its online game and movie service, as well as its on-demand digital music service.

By Alex Pham, Los Angeles Times

April 27, 2011

Sony Corp. said hackers had obtained personal data, and possibly credit card information, of tens of millions of people who have registered for PlayStation Network, the company's online game and movie service, as well as Qriocity, its on-demand digital music service.

"This was a big one," said Bruce Schneier, security technologist and author of "Beyond Fear" and other books on computer security, referring to the number of accounts and the scope of information involved.

As of March 31, Sony had 77 million accounts for its PlayStation Network service, which links users via the Sony PlayStation 3 video game console to download games and tap into online services such as Netflix's video streaming service.

Not all accounts are active, and it's possible that one person can have multiple accounts.

Hackers who gained access to personal information last week were able to steal names, addresses, phone numbers, user names, birth dates, email addresses and passwords, Sony said. The company said it did not know whether credit card information was stolen.

More at the link.

LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-sony-hack-20110427,0,6751251.story)

NJCardFan

04-27-2011, 12:56 PM

I posted the e-mail I got in GD. I'm not happy with Sony right now. Especially considering that earlier this month Anonymous hacked into and shut them down for a day. I find it disturbing that Sony was that lax on the security of their Playstation network to allow it to not only be hacked but for member information to be compromised.